New Paltz women take SUNYAC basketball title

Sunday

Feb 24, 2013 at 2:00 AM

NEW PALTZ — When Maliqua Fisher, Kahsyrah Bryant and Alex McCullough arrived on the SUNY New Paltz campus in the fall of 2009, basketball coach Jamie Seward told them straight out this was the best recruiting class he ever had.

Ken McMillan

NEW PALTZ — When Maliqua Fisher, Kahsyrah Bryant and Alex McCullough arrived on the SUNY New Paltz campus in the fall of 2009, basketball coach Jamie Seward told them straight out this was the best recruiting class he ever had.

"He told us, 'One day we will hang the banner,' '' Fisher recalled.

It took four years but the wait is done for the Hawks. Top-seeded New Paltz led second-seed SUNY Geneseo from start to finish Saturday, winning the school's first SUNY Athletic Conference title with a 64-53 victory before 372 fans at the Hawk Center.

The only wait that's left is finding out who the Hawks (24-3) will be playing in their inaugural appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament. The tourney brackets will be announced on Monday afternoon, with first- and second-round play taking place next weekend.

"It feels really good,'' said Seward, whose had six winning seasons and SUNYAC playoff berths previous to this but never a title. "It feels like it's been a long time coming. There's been so many different players who have given so much of their blood, sweat and tears to get to this point. For this group to get us over the hump and get it done, it's all credit to them. They deserve it.''

In true New Paltz fashion, the Hawks spread the wealth offensively, and did not make matters easy. A 14-point lead late in the first half was trimmed to five. A 13-point advantage midway through the second half was shaved to three with seven minutes to go. New Paltz finally inched away over the closing four minutes with a dagger 3-pointer by McCullough, a couple transition buckets by Bryant and Fisher and eight free throws over the final 1:51.

When it was over, the seniors hugged and joined the mini-swarm of students who enveloped one whole sideline in celebration. McCullough thrust the SUNYAC championship trophy toward the rafters, eliciting a huge cheer, and tourney MVP Fisher practically danced atop a ladder and hung on the rim, wearing the shorn basketball net around her neck like a set of pearls.

"It feels great,'' said Fisher, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds. "We've been at this time and time again for four years straight. To get this, our senior year, it feels amazing.''

The two teams won on each other's home courts during the season, with Geneseo pasting a 73-43 beatdown Jan. 25, spoiling the Hawks' 15-0 start. "We kind of had that in the back of our mind the whole time,'' McCullough said.

Added Fisher: "We knew they were going to come into the game knowing they beat us last time so bad and they thought they would do it again, but it didn't happen.''

Seward shouldered the blame for the huge loss, asking his team to play "a little different than what we normally do.'' This time, he told his team to play its usual defense, albeit more ramped up.

"The only way to play with some teams is to make it a little ugly,'' McCullough said.

The Hawks got into the passing lanes, and even the post players were effective at tipping the ball away from Geneseo's larger and more imposing forwards — New Paltz posted 10 steals in the opening half and eight after the break, scoring 21 points off 27 Geneseo turnovers. The Knights enjoyed only a 43-41 edge in rebounding after enjoying a 117-67 edge in the two previous meetings.

"I said we are going to be ourselves, we are going to attack, we're going to be really aggressive, we're going to pressure, we're going to switch screens and make them make plays,'' Seward said. "That took them out of what they were trying to do offensively and really imposed our will on the game.''

All-tourney team members McCullough and Michelle Valle scored 14 and 11 points, respectively, with Fisher and Alyssa Gratien adding 10 apiece for New Paltz, which shot only 32.4 percent.

Melissa Graham scored 14 points and Allison McKenna added 11 for Geneseo (20-6), which is certainly in the running for an NCAA at-large bid and, at worst, an ECAC tourney berth.

Goshen graduate Kathleen Payne earned an all-tourney spot with SUNY Plattsburgh, a semifinal loser to New Paltz on Friday night.

New Paltz was the No. 3 team in the NCAA East Region poll and Geneseo was No. 4.

Valle believes this championship is the result of hard work, and perhaps there's more to come.

"It was such a long season,'' she said, "but now we see that anything is possible if we keep on working.''